HOLLAND, Mich. — Nearly 137 years ago, the steamship Milwaukee sank beneath calm waters on Lake Michigan after being rammed by another ship in dense smoke caused by wildfires in Wisconsin.
In June of 2023, the explorers from the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) found the ship under 360 feet of water about 40 miles west of Holland.
“This marks the 19th shipwreck our team has found off the shores of West Michigan,” said Valerie van Heest, MSRA director who coordinated the search effort with her husband Jack.
Using side-scan sonar, the team of Valerie, Jack, Craig Rich and Neel Zoss found the wreckage after using newspaper accounts of the sinking to determine its whereabouts.
“News accounts of the accident, as well as the study of water currents, led us to the Milwaukee after only two days searching,” said Zoss, who spotted the image of the wreck on the side-scan sonar.
The team spent the summer filming the wreck and confirming its identity.
The MSRA team documented the wreck using a remote operated vehicle (ROV), which was made specifically for the project by their engineer, Jack.
MSRA shared the history of the ship and the wreck on their Facebook page Saturday when they announced the discovery.
They said the Milwaukee had been traveling to Muskegon after dropping off a load of lumber in Chicago on July 9, 1886. The ship encountered dense smoke on Lake Michigan when returning to port, caused by wildfires in Wisconsin.
At the same time the Milwaukee was returning to Muskegon, a nearly identical ship, the C. Hickox, was leaving Muskegon for Chicago with a full load of lumber.
The two ships were engulfed by the smoke and rammed into one another a few dozen miles off the coast of Michigan. The C. Hickox punched a hole in the side of the Milwaukee, causing it to take on water and eventually sink after two hours.
The C. Hickox and another steamer, the City of New York, attempted to keep the Milwaukee afloat but their efforts could not prevent the inevitable.
The Milwaukee eventually sank, but all of its crew were saved by the C. Hickox and City of New York.
It didn't take long for the MSRA team to find the wreckage after Valerie developed a search grid based off of accounts from the time.
“Visibility was excellent,” said Jack, who piloted the ROV. “We saw the forward mast still standing as the ROV headed down to the bottom.”
The team said that the discovery was very important because of the limited amount of records available for the Milwaukee.
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